Hi everyone. Just a few thoughts on developing some
audience "Rapport". I enjoy throwing out a few ideas
now and then and seeing where things lead. I find forum
audiences quite creative with their thoughts and input.

Building consumer trust is a must if you are in any
type of business, online or off, but what makes someone
trust you enough to do business with you?

Here are a few things that I do that seem to work.

First off is that I try, from the beginning, to develop
some type of relationship. Whether it is with my squeeze
page, blog, or email, I have found that coming across
like a "Rabid Dog", biting at the reader's heels trying to
get them to buy or opt-in, or whatever, is NOT the
way to gain credibility.

Secondly, if you give them something worthwhile up front,
without them having to buy, or opt-in, or jump through
some "Click" hoop, then the reader sees value in your site,
and if they decide that they like what you have, they can
join your list, or buy something from you.

Lastly, and this one I fell apart on a couple of times to
my detriment, and that is that any email list that you have,
no matter how small it is (I had a couple of test lists that
only had 3 or 4 names), MUST be followed up with on a
consistent basis. I screwed up and did not send emails
out regularly. It wasn't that I had a lot of opt-outs, but
my open rate dropped dramatically. So, they may as well
have not been on my list in the first place.

Now, I make certain that I have several emails set up so
that my subscribers don't forget me. They will. When you
send out emails to your list it is important to give them
credible content and not a lot of sales pitches. I also like
to throw in some personal stuff occasionally to let everyone
know that I am human just as they are.

Okay, those are a few short thoughts from me. I am sure
that there are many more ideas floating around out there.